First Posted: 1/15/2009

Georgia
Ellen Ruth Floyd Bruton, 93, of Georgia, died recently.
The funeral will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Floyd family plot in Meadowbrook Cemetery.
Bruton was the daughter of Johnson Hugh Floyd, who owned the first memorial stone business in Robeson County and was an active member and deacon of Lumberton's First Methodist Church. When the church chose to build a larger sanctuary on its Chestnut Street property in 1870, Johnson Hugh Floyd, as he was known, purchased the original church building at 702 Water St. and it was to this converted home that he, over a period of 45 years, brought three wives and raised two families of children. Bruton was the youngest of his 10 children.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Ellen Valine Regan Floyd, her stepmother, Sudie Melvin Floyd; and three brothers, Regan Floyd, Billy Frank Floyd and former judge of the Recorders Court, Robert Floyd.
Growing up motherless from age 7 to 14, she was much loved by her daddy, his sister, Darcas Leggett and her three older brothers. Her two brothers, Regan and Billy Frank, shared their skill at and love of swimming, dancing and basketball with Bruton, who went on to play on Lumberton's award-winning women's team. Her love of basketball was then shared with her daughters, who all played on various teams.
In 1934 Bruton married Jefferson Byrd “J.B.” Bruton, an admirer of hers since their elementary school days. Together they raised four children, Suellen Bruton (Mrs. Thomas Cunningham) of Bainbridge Island, Wash., Bill Bruton of Canton, Ga., Linda Bruton (Mrs. Doyce Cannon) of Maggie Valley and Brenda Bruton (Mrs. John Steele) of Monroe, Ga. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, all of whom loved her dearly.
The family said: “With the passing of our mother, Ellen Ruth Floyd Bruton, a bit of Robeson County and Lumberton, N.C., history has ended.”
“Mother will always be remembered as a woman who cherished flowers, the seashore and her home, but it was unconditional love of her family that made her a gift to us all. That love is her true legacy.”
Memorials may be made to the relief efforts in the Louisiana area.
Paid obituary